After only half a season in MLS, Juninho didn’t do much to endear himself to Red Bulls fans. Reports concerning Juninho’s retirement at the end of this season has surfaced recently, but there’s no need to worry about that now.

The fact that we never got to see one of those magnificent dipping free kicks which Juninho made his trademark whilst at Lyon upsets me. And Steve. And probably most soccer fans out there. Because boy, they were spectacular.

It seemed that every time I watched a Lyon game on the European highlights show as a youngster, Juninho would arch some incredible free kick into the top corner. The bend he got on those babies make Cristiano Ronaldo’s set pieces look pedestrian.

But the fact that I can recall Juninho’s brilliance way back to my early childhood, is in essence the main problem here. Major League Soccer is full of tremendous athletes, who play throughout the summer in hot conditions, on turf fields and it is an extremely physically demanding league. Juninho is 38. He is slight. And he doesn’t want to do much running anymore. He is a playmaker. His type may be dying out in MLS.

He also said that he would return to his homeland to think about his next move.

You can’t blame the Red Bulls for giving him a try. In theory, having a dead ball specialist on hand and someone to sit in behind the front two and create chances for Thierry Henry and Fabian Espindola was a magical idea. But that’s all it was. In fact Juninho got more yellow cards (5) than assist (4) and didn’t score once in his 13 matches with New York.

We said it on this blog when Juninho signed. Quote: “Debilitating heat and burden of soccer-combat in a highly physical league, can sometimes leave technical types ill equipped to deal with it all. We’ll see.”

We did see. And we were right here at Pro Soccer Talk. But that does nothing to numb the pain of never seeing Juninho Pernambucano bend one of those magical free kicks into an MLS net.

With the first section labelled “basically, free money” for the picks I think are dead certs. The section labelled “don’t touch this” means if you’re betting I advise you to stay clear, while the “so you’re telling me there’s a chance” section are the longshots. If it is better odds you are after, those are the picks to go for.

Watford host Everton on Saturday (7:30 a.m. ET live NBCSN and online via NBC Sports.com) at Vicarage Road to kick things off with both teams out of form and desperate for a win.

Then Arsenal welcome Stoke City to the Emirates Stadium (10 a.m. ET live NBCSN andonline via NBC Sports.com) as Arsene Wenger‘s side look to stretch their unbeaten run to 14 games in the Premier League against a resurgent Potters outfit.

As the same time struggling Swansea City and Sunderland clash (10 a.m. ET live CNBC and online via NBC Sports.com) in a massive relegation battle at the Liberty Stadium. Can Bob Bradley get a big win?

Rounding things off on Saturday we have a big game for two teams in contrasting situations as Leicester City host Manchester City (12:30 p.m. ET live NBC and online via NBC Sports.com) at the King Power Stadium with Claudio Ranieri‘s side in a relegation battle. As for Pep Guardiola and City, they haven’t had it all their own way recently but are just four points off top spot.

On Sunday league-leader Chelsea host West Brom (7 a.m. ET live NBCSN and online via NBC Sports.com) with Antonio Conte‘s boys aiming to make it eight-straight wins in the Premier League but the in-form Baggies stand in the way. Then Manchester United and Tottenham collide at Old Trafford (9:15 a.m. ET live on NBCSN and online via NBC Sports.com) in one of the games of the weekend as both teams still harbor title aspirations but look more likely to simply challenge for the top four this season.

To round Week 15 off Liverpool welcome struggling West Ham to Anfield (11:30 a.m. ET live NBCSN and online via NBC Sports.com) with Jurgen Klopp‘s men aiming to get over their shocking defeat at Bournemouth, while Slaven Bilic‘s Hammers will take anything they can get from this trip.

If you’re looking for full-event replays of Premier League games, you can find them here. They are available soon after the final whistle, but rights limit us to a certain number each week. Looking for game highlights? Try this. Here’s your full TV schedule for the coming days. Enjoy.